No One Ever Looks Up (VA - Romitri)

Chapter 7: You Know Sergei?!

"So," Eddie asked, patting his stomach, "what now?"

"Rose?"

Dimitri tilted his head back to look at me.

"Why do I have to decide?" I pouted.

"...We've covered this, Rosie. Your room, your party..."

"Oh, shut it, Pyro."

"Ooh! Ooh! Rose! Looky!"

Lissa jumped onto the bed next to me, squealing. I groaned and covered my ears.

"Ow, Liss!"

"Well, scoot over then."

I rolled my eyes, then jumped as a phone appeared under my nose.

"Look!"

I looked.

"What? Liss, I don't see anything special. Just... Oh. My. God. Is that?"

"Yes!" She clapped her hands and bounced up and down.

"Wait... that's the theater by the mall!"

"Yep. Look at the dates."

"...They'll be there on Sunday."

"Yep."

"We'll be there on Sunday!"

"Yep." She grinned at me, waiting for it.

"Aaaaaaah!" We squealed together.

The guys eyed us, then one another.

"What the Hell just happened?" Mason asked slowly.

I shoved Lissa's phone into his face, not caring that I smashed it into his nose in the process.

"Mase! It's Slayerz! They're playing at the Orange Peel on Sunday!"

He shoved the phone away. "So?"

"So? So we'll be right next door! So we should totally go!"

"Rose." Mason stared at me. "There's no way we can get tickets this late. Those shows always sell out."

"Oh." I deflated.

"Here," Lissa grabbed the phone back. "Let's see... I'll just check... Oh." She frowned. "It says they're sold out."

"Aww, too bad." Christian said with fake sympathy.

Lissa whacked him over the head. "You like them too, dimwit."

I went to smack him too, but Dimitri's hand on my arm stopped me.

"What are you talking about, Roza?"

I stared at him in shock for a moment, then smacked my forehead. "Of course you wouldn't know them. You only listen to music that came out before you were born."

He rolled his eyes. "Roza..."

"They're a band, Dimitri. The Slayerz. Here. I'll show you."

I swiped Lissa's phone and played with it for a minute. Ah, here... I handed the phone to him.

He started at it for a moment, then said, "That's Sergei."

"Um, yeah, Comrade, that's his name. It says so right there." I jabbed my finger at the screen.

"No. Well, yeah, it does. But, I mean, I know him."

"You what?" We all stared.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "He was a friend of Ivan's."

I wrapped my arms around him, knowing it still hurt. He smiled at me – a sad smile, but still bigger than usual.